fAH* 

wise 


/t^vr 

Money  and  the  Kingdom. 


BEING  CHAPTER  XV. 


“Our  Country,” 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO., 
NEW  YORK. 


■  • 

BY 


REV.  JOSIAH  STRONG.  D.  D., 

GENERAL  SEC’y  OF  THE  EVANGELICAL  ALLIANCE, 
FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

lO  EAST  23d  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


4 


in  the  Nestorian  Seminary,  who  became  a 
preacher  of  Christ.  Five  times  she  gave  fifty 
dollars,  earning  the  nioney  in  a  factory,  and 
sent  out  five  native  pastors  to  Christian  work. 
When  more  than  sixty  years  old,  she  longed 
to  furnish  Nestoria  with  one  more  preacher  of 
Christ ;  and,  living  in  an  attic,  she  took  in 
sewing  until  she  had  accomplished  her  cher¬ 
ished  purpose.  In  the  hands  of  this  conse¬ 
crated  woman,  money  transformed  the  facto¬ 
ry  girl  and  the  seamstress  into  a  missionary  of 
the  cross,  and  then  multipled  her  six-fold. 
God  forbid  that  I  should  attribute  to  money 
power  which  belongs  only  to  faith,  love,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit.  In  the  problem  of  Christian 
work,  money  is  like  the  cipher,  worthless 
alone,  but  multiplying  many  fold  the  value 
and  effectiveness  of  other  factors. 

THE  WONDERFUL  OPPORTUNITY 

Enjoyed  by  this  generation  in  the  United 
States  lays  on  us  a  commensurate  obligation. 
Our  wealth  is  stupendous.  If  our  responsi¬ 
bility  is  without  a  precedent,  the  plenitude  of 
our  power  is  likewise  without  a  parallel.  Is 
not  the  lesson  which  God  would  have  us  learn 
so  plain  that  he  who  runs  may  read  it  ?  Has 
not  God  given  us  this  matchless  power  that  it 
may  be  applied  to  this  matchless  work  ? 

A  REFORMATION  NEEDED. 

The  kingdoms  of  this  world  wdll  not  have 
become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  until  the 
money  power  has  been  Chrislianiz'^d.  “Tal¬ 
ent  has  been  Christianized  already  on  a  large 
scale.  The  political  power  of  states  and 


5 


kingdoms  has  been  long  assumed  to  be,  and 
now  at  last  really  is,  as  far  as  it  becomes  their 
accepted  office  to  maintain  personal  security 
and  liberty.  Architecture,  arts,  constitutions, 
schools,  and  learning  have  been  largely  Chris¬ 
tianized.  But  the  money  power,  which  is 
one. of  the  most  operative  and  grandest  of  all, 
is  only  beginning  to  be  ;  though  with  prom¬ 
ising  tokens  of  a  finally  complete  reduction 
to  Christ  and  the  uses  of  his  kingdom  .  .  . 
That  day,  when  it  comes,  is  the  morning,  so 
to  speak,  of  the  new  creation.’'*  Ts  it  not 
time  for  that  day  to  dawn  ?  If  we  would 
Christianize  our  Anglo  -  Saxon  civilization, 
which  is  to  spread  itself  over  the  earth,  has 
not  the  hour  come  for  the  church  to  teach 
and  live  the  doctrines  of  God’s  Word  touch¬ 
ing  possessions  ?  Their  general  acceptance 
on  the  part  of  the  church  would  involve  a 
reformation  scarcely  less  important  in  its 
results  than  the  great  Reformation  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

NOT  PROPRIETORS  BUT  TRUSTEES. 

What  is  needed  is  not  simply  an  increased 
giving,  an  enlarged  estimate  of  the  “Lord’s 
share,”  but  a  radically  different  conception  of 
our  relations  to  our  possessions.  Most  Chris¬ 
tian  men  need  to  discover  that  they  are  not 
proprietors,  apportioning  their  own,  but  sim¬ 
ply  trustees  or  managers  of  God’s  property. 
All  Christians  would  admit  that  there  is  a 
sense  in  which  their  all  belongs  to  God,  but 
deem  it  a  very  poetical  sense,  wholly  unprac¬ 
tical  and  practically  unreal.  The  great  ma- 

*  Bushnell’s  Sermons  on  Living  Subjects,  pp.  264,  265. 


6 


jority  treat  their  possessions  exactly  as  they 
would  treat  property,  use  their  substance  ex¬ 
actly  as  if  it  were  their  own. 

Christians  generally  hold  that  God  has  a 
thoroughly  real  claim  on  some  portion  of 
their  income,  possibly  a  tenth,  more  likely 
no  definite  proportion  ;  but  some  small  part, 
they  acknowledge,  belongs  to  him,  and  they 
hold  themselves  in  duty  bound  to  use  it  for 
him.  This  low  and  unchristian  view  has 
sprung  apparently  from  a  misconception  of 
the  Old  Testament  doctrine  of  tithes. 

god’s  claim. 

God  did  not,  for  the  surrender  of  a  part, 
renounce  all  claim  to  the  remainder.  The  Jew 
was  taught,  in  language  most  explicit  and  oft- 
repeated,  that  he  and  all  he  had  belonged 
absolutely  to  God.  “Behold,  the  heaven 
and  the  heaven  of  heavens  is  the  Lord’s,  thy 
God,  and  the  earth  also,  with  all  that  therein 
is”  (Deut.  10:14),  “The  earth  is  the  Lord’s, 
and  the  fullness  thereof ;  the  world,  and  they 
that  dwell  therein”  (Psa.  24:1).  “The  silver 
is  mine  and  the  gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord  ” 
(Hag.  2:8).  “Behold,  all  souls  are  mine  ; 
as  the  soul  of  the  father,  so  also  the  soul  of 
the  son  is  mine”  (Ezek.  18:4).  When  the 
priest  was  consecrated,  the  blood  of  the  ram 
was  put  upon  the  right  ear,  the  thumb  of  the 
right  hand,  and  the  great  toe  of  the  right 
foot,  to  indicate  that  he  should  come  and  go, 
use  his  hands  and  powers  of  mind,  in  short, 
his  entire  self,  in  the  service  of  God.  These 
parts  of  the  body  were  selected  as  representa¬ 
tive  of  the  whole  man.  The  tithe  was  like- 


7 


wise  representative.  ‘‘For,  if  the  first  fruit 
be  holy,  the  lump  is  also  holy  ’ '  (Rom.  1 1 : 1 6). 
Tithes  were  devoted  to  certain  uses,  specified 
by  God,  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  all  be¬ 
longed  to  him. 

THE  PRINCIPLE  STATED. 

God’s  claim  to  the  whole  rests  on  exactly 
the  same  ground  as  his  claim  to  a  part.  As 
the  Creator,  he  must  have  an  absolute  owner¬ 
ship  in  all  his  creatures  ;  and,  if  an  absolute 
claim  could  be  strengthened,  it  would  be  by 
the  fact  that  he  who  gave  us  life  sustains  it,  and 
with  his  own  life  redeemed  it.  “Ye  are  not 
your  own;  for  ye  are  bought  with  a  price’’ 
(i  Cor.  6:19,  20).  Manifestly,  if  God  has 
absolute  ownership  in  us,  we  can  have  abso¬ 
lute  ownership  in  nothing  whatever.  If  we 
cannot  lay  claim  to  our  own  selves,  how 
much  less  to  that  which  we  find  in  our  hands. 
When  we  say  that  no  man  is  the  absolute 
owner  of  property  to  the  value  of  one  penny, 
we  do  not  take  the  socialistic  position  that 
private  property  is  theft.  Because  of  our 
individual  trusts,  for  which  we  are  held  per¬ 
sonally  responsible,  we  have  individual  rights 
touching  property,  and  may  have  claims  one 
against  another ;  but,  between  God  and  the 
soul,  the  distinction  of  thme  and  mine  is  a 
snare.  Does  one-tenth  belong  to  God  ?  Then 
ten-tenths  are  his.  He  did  not  one-tenth 
create  us  and  we  nine-tenths  create  ourselves. 
He  did  not  one-tenth  redeem  us  and  we  nine- 
tenths  redeem  ourselves.  If  his  claim  to  a 
part  is  good,  his  claim  to  the  whole  is  equally 
good.  His  ownership  in  us  is  no  joint  affair. 


__  8  — ^ 

We  are  not  in  partnership  with  him.  All  that 
we  are  and  have  is  utterly  his,  and  his  only. 

god’s  ownership. 

When  the  Scriptures  and  reason  speak  of 
God’s  ownership  in  us  they  use  the  word  in 
no  accomodated  sense.  It  means  all  that  it 
can  mean  in  a  court  of  law.  It  means  that 
God  has  a  right  to  the  service  of  his  own.  It 
means  that,  since  our  possessions  are  his  prop¬ 
erty,  they  should  be  used  in  his  service — not 
a  fraction  of  them,  but  the  whole.  When  the 
lord  returned  from  the  far  country,  to  reckon 
with  his  servants  to  whom  he  had  entrusted 
his  goods,  he  demanded  not  simply  a  small 
portion  of  the  increase,  but  held  his  servants 
accountable  for  both  principal  and  interest — 
“mine  own  with  usury.”  Every  dollar  that 
belongs  to  God  must  serve  him.  And  it  is 
not  enough  that  we  make  a  good  use  of  our 
means.  We  are  under  exactly  the  same  obli¬ 
gations  to  make  the  best  use  of  our  money 
that  we  are  to  make  a  good  use  of  it ;  and  to 
make  any  use  of  it  other  than  the  best  is  a 
maladministration  of  trust.  Here,  then,  is  the 
principle  always  applicable,  that  of  our  entire 
possessions,  every  dollar,  every  cent,  is  to  be  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  way  that  will  best  honor  God. 

THE  PRINCIPLE  APPLIED. 

The  statement  of  this  principle  at  once 
suggests  difficulties  in  its  application.  Let 
us  glance  at  some  of  them. 

I.  An  attempt  to  regulate  personal  expen¬ 
ditures  by  this  principle  affords  opportu¬ 
nity  for  fanaticism  on  the  one  hand  and  for 


9 


self-deception  on  the  other ;  but  an  honest 
and  intelligent  application  of  it  will  avoid 
both. 

Surely,  it  is  right  to  supply  our  necessities. 

But  what  are  our  necessities  ?  Advancing  civ¬ 
ilization  multiplies  them.  Friction  matches 
were  a  luxury  once,  they  are  a  necessity  now. 

And  may  w^'e  allow  ourselves  nothing  for  the 
comforts  and  luxuries  of  life?  Where  shall 
we  draw  the  line  between  justifiable  and  un¬ 
justifiable  expenditure? 

The  Christian  has  given  himself  to  God,  or, 
rather,  has  recognized  and  accepted  the  divine 
ownership  in  him.  He  is  under  obligations 
to  apply  every  power,  whether  of  mind,  body, 
or  possessions,  to  God's  service.  He  is  bound 
to  make  that  service  as  effective  as  possible. 
Certain  expenditures  upon  himself  are  neces¬ 
sary  to  his  highest  growth  and  usefulness,  and 
are,  therefore,  not  only  permissible,  but  obli¬ 
gatory.  All  the  money  which  luill yield  a  larger  X 
return  of  usefulness  in  the  world,  of  greater  good 
to  the  Kingdom,  by  being  spent  on  oursetves  or 
families  than  by  being  applied  otherwise,  is  used 
for  the  glory  of  God,  and  is  better  spent  than  it 
would  have  been  if  given  to  missions.  And  what¬ 
ever  money  is  spe7it  on  self  that  woutd  have  yielded 
larger  returns  of  usefulness  if  applied  otherwise, 
is  misapplied ;  and,  if  it  has  been  done  mtelligent- 
ly,  it  is  a  case  of  embezzlement. 

CHARACTER  THE  SUPREME  END. 

A  narrow  view  at  this  point  is  likely  to  lead 
us  into  fanaticism.  We  must  look  at  life  in 
its  wide  relations,  and  remember  that  charac¬ 
ter  is  its  supreme  end.  Character  is  the  one 


lO 


thing  in  the  universe,  so  far  as  we  know,  which 
is  of  absolute  worth,  and  therefore  beyond  all 
price.  The  glory  of  the  Infinite  is  all  of  it  the 
glory  of  character.  Every  expenditure  which 
serves  to  broaden  and  beautify  and  upbuild 
character  is  worthy.  The  one  question  ever 
to  be  kept  in  mind  is  whether  it  is  the  wisest 
application  of  means  to  the  desired  end.  Will 
this  particular  application  of  power  in  money 
produce  the  largest  results  in  character ! 

V 

BUT  WHAT  OF  THE  BEAUTIFUL? 

How  far  may  we  gratify  our  love  of  it  ?  A 
delicate  and  difficult  question  to  answer,  espe- 
cially  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  living  in  the 
midst  of  a  luxurious  civilization.  Our  guiding 
principle  holds  here  as  every  where,  only  its  ap¬ 
plication  is  difficult.  It  is  difficult  to  deter¬ 
mine  how  useful  the  beautiful  may  be.  Doubt¬ 
less,  at  times,  as  Victor  Hugo  has  said,  “  The 
beautiful  is  as  useful  as  the  useful ;  perhaps 
more  so.  ’ '  The  ministry  of  art  widens  with  the 
increasing  refinement  of  the  nervous  organiza¬ 
tion.  There  are  those  to  whom  the  beautiful 
is,  in  an  important  sense,  a  necessity.  God 
loves  the  beautiful.  Each  flower  would  yield 
its  seed  and  perpetuate  its  kind  as  surely  if 
each  blossom  were  not  a  smile  of  its  Creator. 
The  stars  would  swing  on  in  their  silent,  sol¬ 
emn  march  as  true  to  gravitation,  if  they  did 
not  glow  like  mighty  rubies  and  emeralds  and 
sapphires.  The  clouds  would  be  as  faithful 
carriers  of  the  bounty  of  the  sea,  if  God  did 
not  paint  their  morning  and  evening  glory 
from  the  rainbow  as  his  palette.  Yes  ;  God 
loves  the  beautiful,  and  intended  we  should 


love  it ;  but  he  does  not  have  to  economize 
his  power ;  his  resources  are  not  limited. 
When  he  spreads  the  splendors  of  the  rising 
East,  it  is  not  at  the  cost  of  bread  enough  to 
feed  ten  thousand  starving  souls.  Art  has  an 
educational  value  in  our  homes  and  schools 
and  parks  and  galleries ;  but  how  far  m*ay  one 
who  recognizes  his  Christian  stewardship  con¬ 
scientiously  go  in  the  encouragement  of  art 
and  the  gratification  of  taste  ? 

THE  CONDITION  OF  SOCIETY  NOT  IDEAL. 

If  every  man  did  his  duty,  gave  according  to 
ability,  there  would  be  abundant  provision  for 
all  Christian  and  philanthropic  work,  and  sub¬ 
stance  left  for  the  patronage  of  art.  But  not 
one  man  in  a  hundred  is  doing  his  duty  ;  hence 
those  who  appreciate  the  necessities  of  Chris¬ 
tian  work  must  fill  the  breach,  and  are  not  at 
liberty  to  make  expenditures  which  would  oth¬ 
erwise  be  wholly  justifiable.  Many  expendi¬ 
tures  are  right  abstractly  considered.  That 
is,  would  be  right  in  an  ideal  condition  of 
society.  But  the  condition  of  the  world  is 
not  ideal ;  we  are  surrounded  by  circumstan¬ 
ces  which  must  be  recognized  exactly  as  they 
are.  Sin  is  abnormal,  the  world  is  out  of 
joint ;  and  such  facts  lay  on  us  obligations 
which  would  not  otherwise  exist,  make  sac¬ 
rifices  necessary  which  would  not  otherwise 
be  binding,  forbid  the  gratification  of  tastes 
which  are  natural  and  might  otherwise  be 
indulged.  Thrice  true  is  this  of  us  who  live 
in  this  great  national  crisis  and  world  emer¬ 
gency.  It  is  well  to  play  the  violin,  but  not 
when  Rome  is  burning. 


12 


AN  ILLUSTRATION. 

Here  is  a  large  family  of  which  the  husband 
and  father  is  a  contemptible  lounger  (if  loaf¬ 
ers  had  any  appreciation  of  the  eternal  fitness 
of  things,  they  Vv^ould  die)  ;  he  does  simply 
nothing  for  the  support  of  the  family.  Ex¬ 
ceptional  cares  are,  therefore,  laid  on  the 
wife  and  mother.  She  must  expend  all  her 
time  and  strength  to  secure  the  bare  necessa¬ 
ries  of  life  for  her  children  ;  and  with  the 
utmost  sacrifice  on  her  part  they  go  hungry 
and  cold.  If  her  wretched  husband  did  his 
duty,  she  could  command  time  and  means  to 
beautify  the  home  and  make  the  dress  of  her¬ 
self  and  children  attractive  ;  but,  under  the 
circumstances,  it  would  be  worse  than  foolish 
for  her  to  spend  her  scant  earnings  on  vases 
and  flowers,  laces  and  velvets. 

HIGH  USES  MUST  YIELD  TO  THE 
HIGHEST. 

God  has  laid  upon  Christian  nations  the 
work  of  evangelizing  the  heathen  world.  He 
has  laid  on  us  the  duty  of  Christianizing  our 
own  heathen,  and  under  such  conditions  that 
the  obligation  presses  with  an  overwhelming 
urgency.  If  this  duty  were  accepted  by  all 
Christians,  the  burden  would  rest  lightly  upon 
each  ;  but  great  multitudes  in  the  church  are 
shirking  all  responsibility.  So  far  as  the  work 
of  missions  is  concerned,  these  members  of 
the  household  of  faith  are  loungers.  The  un¬ 
faithful  many  throw  unnatural  burdens  on  the 
faithful  few.  Under  these  circumstances  he 
who  would  be  faithful  must  accept  sacrifices 


13 


which  would  not  otherwise  be  his  duty.  That 
is,  the  principle  always  and  everywhere  appli¬ 
cable,  that  we  are  under  obligations  to  make 
the  wisest  use  of  every  penny,  binds  him  to  ?J 
use  of  his  means  which,  if  every  Christian  did 
his  duty,  would  not  be  necessary.  Notwith¬ 
standing  all  the  sacrifices  made  by  some, 
there  are  vast  multitudes,  which  the  estab¬ 
lished  channels  of  beneficence  have  placed 
within  our  reach,  who  are  starving  for  the 
Bread  of  Life.  As  long  as  this  is  true,  must 
not  high  uses  of  money  yield  to  the  highest  ? 
It  is  not  enough  to  be  sure  that  we  are  mak¬ 
ing  a  good  use  of  means  ;  for,  as  the  Germans 
say,  the  good  is  a  great  enemy  of  the  best. 
The  expenditure  of  a  large  sum  on  a  work  of 
art  may  be  a  good  use  of  money,  but  can  any 
one  not  purblind  with  selfishness  fail  to  see 
that,  when  a  thousand  dollars  actually  repre¬ 
sents  the  salvation  of  a  certain  number  of 
souls,  there  are  higher  uses  for  the  money  ? 

AS  TO  LUXURIES. 

The  purchase  of  luxuries  is  often  justified 
by  the  following  fallacy  :  “lam  giving  work 
and  hence  bread  to  the  poor ;  and  it  is  much 
wiser  thus  to  let  them  earn  it  than  to  encour¬ 
age  them  in  idleness  by  bestowing  the  price 
of  the  lace  in  charity.'’  Thus  many  justify 
extravagance  and  make  their  luxuries  flatter 
their  pride  into  the  complacent  conviction  that 
they  are  unselfish.  An  economy  in  truth — 
forcing  the  same  act  to  minister  at  once  to 
self-indulgence  and  self-righteousness  !  Does 
it  make  no  difference  to  the  world  how  its 
labor  is  expended,  whether  on  something  use- 


14  — 


ful  or  useless,  for  high  uses  or  low?  Your 
one  elegant  dress  has  given  many  days’  work 
to  many  persons.  But  is  there  no  selfishness 
in  the  fact  that  their  labor  was  consumed  on 
yourself  alone  when  it  might  have  clothed  a 
score  or  more  who  are  now  shivering  in  rags  ? 
“  Do  not  cheat  yourself  into  thinking  that  all 
the  finery  you  can  wear  is  so  much  put  into 
the  hungry  mouths  of  those  beneath  you  :  it 
is  not  so ;  it  is  what  you  yourselves,  whether 
you  will  or  no,  must  sometime  instinctively 
feel  it  to  be — it  is  what  those  who  stand  shiv¬ 
ering  in  the  streets,  forming  a  line  to  watch 
you  as  you  step  out  of  your  carriages,  know  it 
to  be  ;  those  fine  dresses  do  not  mean  that  so 
much  has  been  put  into  their  mouths,  but 
that  so  much  has  been  taken  out*  of  their 
mouths.  The  real  politico-economical  sig¬ 
nification  of  every  one  of  those  beautiful  toil¬ 
ettes  is  just  this  :  that  you  have  had  a  certain 
number  of  people  put  for  a  certain  number  of 
days  wholly  under  your  authority  by  the 
sternest  of  slave-masters — hunger  and  cold  ; 
and  you  have  said  to  them,  ‘  I  will  feed  you, 
indeed,  and  clothe  you,  and  give  you  fuel  for 
so  many  days  :  but  during  those  days  you 
shall  work  for  me  only ;  your  little  brothers 
need  clothes,  but  you  shall  make  none  for 
them  ;  your  sick  friend  needs  clothes,  but  you 
shall  make  none  for  her ;  you  yourself  will 
soon  need  another  and  a  warmer  dress,  but 
you  shall  make  none  for  yourself.  You  shall 
make  nothing  but  lace  and  roses  for  me  ;  for 
this  fortnight  to  come  you  shall  work  at  the 
patterns  and  petals,  and  then  I  will  crush  and 
consume  them  away  in  an  hour.  ’  .  .  .  As  long 


15 


as  there  are  cold  and  nakedness  in  the  land 
around  you,  so  long  there  can  be  no  ques¬ 
tion  at  all  but  that  splendor  of  dress  is  a  crime. 
In  due  time,  when  we  have  nothing  better  to 
set  people  to  work  at,  it  may  be  right  to  let 
them  make  lace  and  cut  jewels  ;  but,  as  long 
as  there  are  any  who  have  no  blankets  for 
their  beds  and  no  rags  for  their  bodies,  so 
long  it  is  blanket-making  and  tailoring  we 
must  set  people  to  work  at — not  lace, '  ’* 

WEALTH  NOT  WISELY  USED. 

These  principles  which  Mr.  Ruskin  applies 
to  splendor  of  dress  are  equally  applicable  to 
all  luxuries,  and  are  an  answer  to  all  those 
self-deceivers  who  excuse  their  selfish  expendi¬ 
tures  on  the  ground  that  they  give  work  to 
persons  needing  it.  “  Many  hold  that  an  enor¬ 
mous  expenditure  of  wealth  is  highly  com¬ 
mendable,  because  it  ‘makes  trade.'  They 
forget  that  waste  is  not  wealth-making  ;  war, 
fire,  the  sinking  of  a  ship  also  ‘make  trade,' 
because  by  destroying  existing  capital  they 
increase  demand.  The  wealth  thus  wasted 
would,  more  wisely  used,  give  work  to  many 
more  people  in  creating  more  wealth."*!* 

Again,  the  advocates  or  excusers  of  self- 
indulgence  pose  as  the  vindicators  of  God's 
love.  They  tell  us  that  he  gave  all  good 
things  for  the  uses  of  his  children,  and  that 
he  rejoices  in  their  delight.  Yes  ;  God  is 
even  more  benevolent  than  such  suppose.  So 
greatly  does  he  desire  our  joy  that  he  is  not 

*  True  and  Beautiful,  pp.  421,  422. 

t  Economic  Tract  No.  X.  Of  Work  and  Wealth,  by  R.  R. 
Bowker. 


content  to  see  us  satisfied  with  the  low  de¬ 
lights  of  self-gratification,  but  would  fain  have 
us  know  the  blessednes's  of 

SELF-SACRIFICE  FOR  OTHERS. 

The  writer  has  no  sympathy  with  asceti¬ 
cism.  There  is  no  virtue  in  deformity ; 
good  taste  is  not  unchristian  ;  beauty  often 
costs  no  more  than  ugliness.  Away  with  the 
idea  of  penance.  It  belies  God  and  carica¬ 
tures  the  Christian  religion.'  It  differs  from 
the  self-sacrifice  which  Christ  taught  and  ex¬ 
emplified  as  widely  as  the  suicide  of  Cato 
differed  from  the  heroic  death  of  Arnold  von 
Winkelried.  Christ  did  not  die  for  the  sake 
of  dying,  but  to  save  a  world  ;  and  he  does 
not  inculcate  self-denial  for  the  sake  of  self- 
denial,  but  for  the  sake  of  others. 

Many  practice  self-denial,  if  not  for  its  own 
sake,  only  for  the  sake  of  saving,  and  with 
little  or  no  reference  to  giving.  Let  a  Japan¬ 
ese  heathen  show  us  a  more  excellent  way. 
I  take  the  following  account  from  The  Chris¬ 
tian  Herald  (Sept.,  1885).  In  a  certain  place, 
and  generation  by  generation,  the  owner  and 
relatives  of  a  certain  house  prospered  greatly. 
Year  by  year  those  persons,  on  the  second  day 
of  the  New  Year,  assembled  and  worshipped 
the  god  Kannin  Daimiyo-jin-san.  The  mean¬ 
ing  of  the  name  in  English  is 

“  THE  GREAT  BRIGHT  GOD  OF  SELF- 
RESTRAINT.’' 

After  engaging  in  worship,  the  head  of  the 
house  opened  the  Kannin-bako  (self-restraint 
box),  and  distributed  to  the  needy  money 


17 


enough  to  enable  them  to  live  in  comfort  for 
a  time.  The  money  in  the  box  was  the  an¬ 
nual  accumulation  of  his  offering  to  his  god. 

Outsiders,  learning  of  the  prosperity,  wor¬ 
ship,  and  large  giving  to  the  needy  which 
characterized  this  family,  were  astonished, 
and  presented  themselves  to  inquire  into  the 
matter.  The  master  of  the  house,  in  reply, 
gave  the  following  account  of  the  practice  of 
his  household  : 

“From  ancient  times  my  family  has  be¬ 
lieved  m  and  worshipped  ‘  the  great,  bright 
god  of  self-restraint.’  We  have  also  made  a 
box,  and  called  it  ‘the  self-restraint  box,’  for 
the  reception  of  the  first-fruits  and  other  per¬ 
centages,  all  of  which  are  offered  to  our  god. 

“As  to  percentages,  this  is  our  mode  of 
proceeding  :  If  I  would  buy  a  dollar  gar¬ 
ment,  I  manage  by  self-restraint  and  econ¬ 
omy  to  get  it  for  eighty  cents,  and  the  remain¬ 
ing  twenty  cents  I  drop  into  ‘  the  self-restraint 
box  or  if  I  would  give  a  five-dollar  feast  to 
my  friends,  I  exercise  self-restraint  and  econ¬ 
omy,  and  give  it  for  four,  dropping  the  re¬ 
maining  dollar  into  the  box ;  or  if  I  determine 
to  build  a  house  that  shall  cost  one  hundred 
dollars,  I  exercise  self-restraint  and  economy, 
and  build  it  for  eighty,  putting  the  remaining 
twenty  dollars  into  the  box  as  an  offering  to 
Kannin  Daimiyo-jin-san,  ...  In  proportion 
to  my  annual  outlays,  the  sum  in  this  box  is 
large  or  small.  This  year  my  outlays  have 
been  large  ;  hence,  by  the  practice  of  the  vir¬ 
tues  named,  the  amount  in  ‘  the  self-restraint 
box  ’  is  great.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this,  we 
are  living  in  comfort,  peace  and  happiness.” 

2 


Among  us,  outlays  and  benefactions  are  apt 
to  be  in  inverse,  instead  of  direct,  ratio.  I 
am  strongly  inclined  to  think  that  Christians 
could  gain  easy  forgiveness  for  a  little  idolatry 
of  “the  great,  bright  god  of  self-restraint.” 
And  if  the  “self-restraint  box”  were  marked 
Home  and  Foreign  Missions,  and  the  savings 
resulting  from  our  self-denial  were  dropped 
into  it,  our  oft'erings  to  each  might  be  in¬ 
creased  tenfold. 

DAILY  SELF-DENIAL. 

The  general  acceptance,  by  the  church,  of 
the  Christian  principle  that  every  penny  is^to 
be  used  in  the  way  that  will  best  honor  God, 
would  cause  every  channel  of  benevolence  to 
overflow  its  banks,  and  occasion  a  blessed 
freshet  of  salvation  throughout  the  world. 
“But,”  says  some  one,  “that  principle  de¬ 
mands  daily  self-denial.”  Undoubtedly;  and 
that  fact  is  the  Master  s  seal  set  to  its  truth. 
“If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him 
deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily,  and 
follow  me.”  (Luke  9  :  23). 

NO  EXCEPTIONS. 

2.  And  there  are  no  exceptions  to  this  law 
of  sacrifice ;  it  binds  all  alike.  Christian 
people  will  agree  that  missionaries  are  called 
to  make  great  sacrifices  for  Christ ;  but  why 
does  the  obligation  rest  on  them  any  more 
than  on  all  ?  Does  the  missionary  belong 
absolutely  to  God  ?  No  less  do  we.  Do  the 
love  and  sacrifice  of  Christ  lay  him  under 
boundless  obligation?  Chi::t  dL.l  for  every 
man.  Why  is  not  the  rich  man  in  America 


19 


under  as  great  obligation  to  practice  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen  as 
the  missionary  in  Central  Africa,  provided  his 
sacrifice  can  be  made  fruitful  of  their  good  ? 
And  that  is  exactly  the  provision  which  is 
made  by  missionary  boards  to-day.  They 
establish  channels  of  inter -communication 
which  bring  us  into  contact  with  all  heathen¬ 
dom,  and  make  Africa,  which,  centuries  ago, 
fell  among  thieves,  and  has  ever  since  been 
robbed  and  sore  wounded,  our  neighbor 

LEGACY  NOT  SUFFICIENT. 

To  live  in  luxury,  and  then  leave  a  legacy  for 
missions,  does  hot  fulfill  the  law  of  sacrifice. 
Every  steward  is  responsible  for  the  disposi¬ 
tion  of  his  trust  made  by  will.  The  obliga¬ 
tion  still  rests  upon  him  to  bestow  his  posses¬ 
sions  where,  after  his  death,  they  will  do  most 
for  God.  Legacies  to  benevolent  societies 
ought  to  be  greatly  multiplied,  and  would  be, 
if  the  principle  of  Christian  stewardship  were 
accepted ;  but  such  a  legacy  cannot  com¬ 
pound  for  an  unconsecrated  life.  If  the  priest 
or  Levite,  who  passed  by  on.  the  other  side, 
wrote  a  codicil  to  his  will,  providing  for 
wounded  wayfarers,  I  fear  it  was  hardly 
counted  unto  him  for  righteousness,  was 
hardly  a  proof  that  he  loved  his  neighbor  as 
himself. 

THE  MEASURE  OF  SACRIFICE  IS  THE 
SAME  FOR  ALL. 

Christ  said:  “Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  gospel  f  and  he  did  not 
say  it  to  the  twelve,  but  to  the  whole  body 


20 


of  believers.  If  we  cannot  go  in  person 
we  are  under  obligations  to  go  by  proxy. 
The  rich  man  has  more  power  to  send  than 
the  missionary  has  to  go  ;  he  can,  perhaps, 
send  a  dozen.  And  why  is  he  not  called  to 
make  as  great  sacrifices  in  sending  as  the  mis¬ 
sionary  in  going  The  obligations  of  all 
men  rest  on  the  same  grounds.  The  law  of 
sacrifice  is  universal.  “  If  any  man  will  come 
after  me  that  means  Dives  and  Lazarus 
alike ;  the  terms  are  all-inclusive.  And  not 
only  must  all  men  sacrifice,  but  the  measure  of 
sacrifice  is  the  same  for  all.  God  does  not  ask 
of  any  two  the  same  gift,  because  to  no  two 
are  his  gifts  the  same ;  but  he  does  require  of 
every  man  the  same  sacrifice.  “Whosoever 
he  be  of  you  that  forsaketh  not  all  that  he 
HATH,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple. (Luke 
14  :  33).  To  give  the  little  all  is  as  hard  as 
to  give  the  abounding  all.  In  both  cases  the 
sacrifice  is  the  same ;  for  it  is  measured  less 
by  what  is  given  than  by  what  remains.  Only 
when  the  sacrifice  is  all  inclusive  is  it  perfect 
and  entire.  It  is  the  sacrifice,  not  the  gift, 
which  is  the  essential  thing  in  God’s  eye. 
What  he  demands  of  every  soul  is  a  complete 

*  Glance  at  some  of  the  sacrifices  of  missionaries  who  go 
to  the  frontier.  Writing  to  the  “Congregational  Union  ”  for 
aid  to  build  a  parsonage,  one  says  :  “  My  wife  and  myself, 
with  our  daughter  of  six  years,  have  been  doing  our  best  to 
live  (if  it  can  be  called  living)  in  an  attic  of  a  store.  It  is  all 
unfinished  inside.  By  putting  up  a  board  partition  we  have 
tw'O  rooms.  We  are  doing  our  best  to  keep  warm ;  but  with 
mercury  twenty  degrees  below  zero  we  do  not  find  it  easy.” 

Another,  writing  for  a  loan,  says  :  “My  family  of  .seven 
lived  all  summer  in  a  house  twelve  by  sixteen,  having  only 
two  rooms.” 

Many  are  heroically  enduring  hardship  for  the  Kingdom 
at  the  front,  whose  sacrifices  would  be  less  if  ours  were 
greater,  whose  sufferings  could  be  relieved  if  our  luxuries 
were  curtailed. 


21 


sacrifice  —  the  absolute  surrender  of  self,  of 
all  powers  and  all  possessions ;  not  the  ahan- 
dofiing  of  the  latter  any  more  than  of  the  for¬ 
mer,  but  their  entire  surrender  to  God  to  be 
used  honestly  for  him.  In  George  Herbert’s 
noble  words  : 

“  Next  to  Sincerity,  remember  stib, 

Thou  must  resolve  upon  Integrity. 

God  will  have  all  thou  hast  :  thy  mind,  thy  will, 
Thy  thoughts,  thy  words,  thy  works.” 

Whatever  their  occupation,  Christians  have 
but  one  business  in  the  world;  viz.,  the  ex¬ 
tending  of  Christ’s  kingdom  ;  and  merchant, 
mechanic,  and  banker  are  under  exactly  the 
same  obligations  to  be  wholly  consecrated  ta 
that  work  as  is  the  missionary. 

A  QUESTION  OF  PROPORTION. 

3.  One  who  believes  that  every  dollar  be¬ 
longs  to  God,  and  is  to  be  used  for  him,  will 
not  imagine  that  he  has  discharged  all  oblb 
gation  by  “giving  a  tenth  to  the  Lord.” 
One  who  talks  about  the  “Lord’s  tenth,” 
probably  thinks  about  “his  owm”  nine-tenths. 
The  question  is  not  what  proportion  belongs 
to  God,  but  having  given  all  to  him,  what 
proportion  will  best  honor  him  by  being  ap¬ 
plied  to  the  uses  of  myself  and  family,  and 
what  proportion  will  best  honor  him  by  be¬ 
ing  applied  to  benevolent  uses.  Because 
necessities  differ  this  proportion  will  differ. 
One  man  has  a  small  income  and  a  large  fam¬ 
ily  ;  another  has  a  large  income  and  no  family 
at  all.  Manifestly  the  proportion  which  will 
best  honor  God  by  being  applied  to  benevo¬ 
lence  is  much  larger  in  the  one  case  than  in 
tbe  other.  God,  therefore,  requires  a  differ- 


22 


ent  proportion  to  be  thus  applied  in  the  two 
cases.  If  men’s  needs  varied  directly  as  their 
incomes,  it  might,  perhaps,  be  practicable  and 
reasonable  to  fix  on  some  definite  proportion 
as  due  from  all  to  Christian  and  benevolent 
worfi.  But  while  men’s  wants  are  quite  apt 
to  grow  with  their  income,  their  needs  do 
not.*  A  man  whose  income  is  five  hundred 
dollars  may  have  the  same  needs  as  his  neigh¬ 
bor  whose  income  is  fifty  thousand. 

There  are  multitudes  in  the  land  who,  after 
having  given  one-tenth  of  their  increase,  might 
fare  sumptuously  every  day,  gratify  every 
whim,  and  live  with  the  most  lavish  expendi¬ 
ture.  Would  that  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ, 
“If  any  man  will  come  after  me  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily  and  fol¬ 
low  me 

There  is  always  a  tendency  to  substitute 
form  for  spirit,  rules  for  principles.  It  is  so 
much  easier  to  conform  the  conduct  to  a  rule 
than  to  make  a  principle  inform  the  whole 
life.  Moses  prescribed  rules ;  Christ  incul¬ 
cated  principles — 

RULES  FOR  CHILDREN,  PRINCIPLES  FOR 

MEN. 

The  law  of  tithes  was  given  when  the  race 
was  in  its  childhood,  and  the  relations  of 
money  to  the  kingdom  of  God  were  radically 
different  from  what  they  are  now.  The  Is¬ 
raelite  was  not  held  responsible  for  the  con¬ 
version  of  the  world.  Money  had  no  such 

*  When  John  Wesley’s  income  was  £30,  he  lived  on  £28, 
and  gave  two  ;  and  when  his  income  rose  t©  £60,  and  after¬ 
wards  to  £120,  he  still  lived  on  £28,  and  gave  all  the  re¬ 
mainder. 


spiritual  equivalents  then  as  now  ;  it  did  not 
represent  the  salvation  of  the  heathen.  The 
Jew  was  required  simply  to  make  provisions 
for  his  own  worship  ;  and  its  limited  demands 
might  appropriately  be  met  by  levying  upon 
a  certain  proportion  of  his  increase.  Pales¬ 
tine  was  his  world  and  his  kindred  the  race  ; 
but,  under  the  Christian  dispensation  the 
world  is  our  country  and  the  race  our  kin¬ 
dred.  The  needs  of  the  world  to  -  day  are 
boundless ;  hence,  every  man’s  obligation  to 
supply  that  need  is  the  full  measure  of  his 
ability ;  not  one-tenth,  or  any  other  fraction 
of  it.  And  no  one  exercises  thai  full  measure 
until  he  has  sacrificed. 

BY  ALL  MEANS  LET  THERE  BE  SYSTEM. 

It  is  as  valuable  in  giving  as  in  anything  else. 
Proportionate  giving  to  benevolence  is  both 
reasonable  and  scriptural — “  as  God  hath  pros¬ 
pered.”  It  is  well  to  fix  on  some  proportion 
of  income,  less  than  which  we  will  not  give, 
and  then  bring  expenses  within  the  limit  thus 
laid  down.  But  when  this  proportion  has 
been  given — be  it  a  tenth,  or  fifth,  or  half — 
it  does  not  follow  necessarily  that  duty  has 
been  fully  done.  There  can  be  found  in  rules 
no  substitute  for  an  honest  purpose  and  a 
consecrated  heart. 

APPLICABLE  TO  CAPITAL. 

4.  The  principle  that  every  dollar  is  to  bt 
used  in  the  way  that  will  best  honor  God  is 
as  applicable  to  capital  as  to  increase  or  in¬ 
come,  and  in  many  cases  requires  that  a  por¬ 
tion  of  capital  be  applied  directly  to  benevo- 


24 


lent  uses.  ‘ '  But, says  one,  '  ‘  I  must  not 
give  of  my  capital,  because  that  v/ould  impair 
my  ability  to  give  in  the  future.  I  must  not 
kill  the  goose  that  lays,  the  golden  egg.  ’’  The 
objection  is  of  weight,  especially  in  ordinary 
times  ;  but  these  are  times  wholly  extraordi¬ 
nary  ;  this  is  the  world’s  emergency.  It  may 
be  quite  true  that  giving  one  dollar  now  out 
of  your  capital  would  prevent  your  giving  five 
dollars  fifteen  years  hence.  But  it  should  be 
remembered  that  there  are  missionary  fields 
where  one  dollar  now  is  worth  ten  dollars 
fifteen  years  later. 

Money,  like  corn,  has  a  two-fold  power — 
that  of  ministering  to  want  and  that  of  repro¬ 
duction.  If  there  were  a  famine  in  the  land, 
no  matter  how  sore  it  might  be,  it  would  be 
folly  to  grind  up  all  the  seed-corn  for  food. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  suppose,  in  the 
midst  of  the  famine,  after  feeding  their  fam¬ 
ilies  and  doling  out  a  handful  in  charity,  the 
farmers  put  all  the  increase  back  into  the 
ground,  and  do  it  year  after  year  while  the 
world  is  starving.  That  would  be  something 
worse  than  foolish.  It  would  be  criminal. 
Yet  that  is  what  multitudes  of  men  are  doing. 
Instead  of  applying  the  power  m  money  to  the  e7id 
for  which  it  was  entrusted  to  them,  they  use  it 
abnost  wholly  to  accumulate  more  power.  A 
miller  might  as  well  spend  his  life  building 
his  dam  high  and  higher,  and  never  turn  the 
water  to  his  wheel.  Bishop  Butler  said  to 
his  secretary,  “I  should  be  ashauied  of  my¬ 
self,  if  I  could  leave  ten  thousand  pounds  be¬ 
hind  me.”  Many  professed  Christians  die 
disgracefully  and  “wickedly  rich.”  The 


25 


shame  and  sin,  however,  lie  not  in  the  fact 
that  the  power  was  gathered,  but  that  it  was 
unwielded 

THE  MONEY-MAKING  TALENT. 

It  is  the  duty  of  some  men  to  make  a  great 
deal  of  money.  God  has  given  to  them  the 
money-making  talent ;  and  it  is  as  wrong  to 
bury  that  talent  as  to  bury  a  talent  for  preach¬ 
ing.  It  is  every  man’s  duty  to  wield  the  wid¬ 
est  possible  power  for  righteousness  :  and  the 
power  in  money  must  be  gained  before  it  can 
be  used.  But  let  a  man  beware  !  This  power 
in  money  is  something  awful.  It  is  more 
dangerous  than  dynamite.  The  victims  of 
“saint-seducing  gold”  are  numberless.  If  a 
Christian  grows  rich,  it  should  be  with  fear 
and  trembling,  lest  the  “deceitfulness  of 
riches  ”  undo  him  ;  for  Christ  spoke  of  the 
salvation  of  a  rich  man  as  something  miracu¬ 
lous  (Luke  i8  :  24-27). 

AN  AIM  TO  BE  KEPT  IN  MIND. 

Let  no  man  deceive  himself  by  saying  :  “I 
will  give  when  I  have  amassed  wealth.  I  de¬ 
sire  money  that  I  may  do  good  with  it ;  but 
I  will  not  give  now,  that  I  may  give  the  more 
largely  in  the  future.”  That  is  the  pit  in 
which  m.any  have  perished.  If  a  man  is  grow¬ 
ing  large  in  wealth,  nothing  but  constant  and 
generous  giving  can  save  him  from  growing 
small  in  soul.  In  determining  the  amount  of 
his  gifts  and  the  question  whether  he  should 
impair  his  capital,  or  to  what  extent,  a  man 
should  never  lose  sight  of  a  distinct  and  in¬ 
telligent  aim  to  do  the  greatest  possible  good 


- -  26  - 

in  a  life-time.  Each  must  decide  for  himself 
what  is  the  wisest,  the  highest,  use  of  money  ; 
and  we  need  often  to  remind  ourselves  of  the 
constant  tendency  of  human  nature  to  selfish¬ 
ness  and  self-deceptiom 

THE  PRINCIPLE  NOT  ACCEPTED. 

The  principle  which  has  been  stated  and 
briefly  applied,  and  which  is  as  abundantly 
sustained  by  reason  as  it  is  clearly  taught  in 
the  Scriptures,  is  not  accepted  by  the  Chris¬ 
tian  church.  There  are  many  noble  gifts 
and  noble  givers  ;  but  they '  only  help  us  to 
demonstrate  that  great  multitudes  in  the 
church  have  not  yet  learned  the  first  princi¬ 
ples  of  Christian  giving.  The  home  mission¬ 
ary  contributions  of  the  evangelical  church- 
membership  in  1890  did  not  average  more 
than  fifty  cents  per  caput.  But  many  thou¬ 
sands  give  a  dollar  each,  which  means  that 
as  many  thousands  more  give  nothing.  There 
are  some  thousands  who  give  ten  dollars  ;  and 
for  every  thousand  of  this  class  there  are  nine¬ 
teen  thousand  who  do  not  give  anything.  Dr. 
Cuyler  says  he  once  had  a  seamstress  in  his 
church  who  used  to  give  a  hundred  dollars  a 
year  to  missions.  Not  a  few  out  of  larger 
means,  give  as  much  ;  and,  for  every  one  of 
them,  there  are  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
who  give  nothing.  Some  give  five  thousand 
dollars ;  and  for  each  of  them  there  are  ten 
thousand  church-members  who  do  not  give 
one  cent  to  redeem  this  land  for  which  He, 
with  whom  they  profess  to  be  in  sympathy, 
gave  his  life.  There  are  hundreds  of  churches 
that  do  not  give  anything  to  home  or  foreign 


27 


missions ;  and  of  those  that  do  many  mem¬ 
bers  give  nothing.  A  church  in  Hartford 
gave  eleven  hundred  dollars  to  home  mis¬ 
sions.  One  lady  said  to  another  :  “  Did  n’t 
we  do  well  this  morning  ?”  “  No  ;  not  as  a 

church,”  was  the  reply;  for  one  lady  gave 
six  hundred  dollars  and  one  gentleman  gave 
three  hundred.  ”  If  church  collections  were 
analyzed,  it  would  appear  that,  as  a  rule,  by 
far  the  greater  part  is  given  by  a  very  few  per¬ 
sons,  and  they  not  the  most  able.  The  great 
majority  of  church-members  give  only  a  trifle 
or  nothing  at  all  for  the  work  of  missions. 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 

During  the  year  1889-90  contributions  in 
the  United  States  for  foreign  missions  were 
$3,977, 701^  A  total  of  $10,795,259  for 
home  and  foreign  missions  sounds  like  a  large 
sum.  But  great  and  small  are  relative  terms. 
Compared  with  the  need  of  the  world  and  the 
ability  of  the  church  it  is  pitiable  indeed. 
Look  at  that  ability.  The  Christian  religion, 
by  rendering  men  temperate,  industrious,  and 
moral,  makes  them  prosperous.  There  are 
but  few  of  the  very  poor  in  our  churches. 
The  great  question  has  come  to  be  :  “How 
can  we  reach  the  masses.?”  Church-mem¬ 
bership  is  made  up  chiefly  of  the  well-to-do 
and  the  rich.  On  the  other  hand,  a  majority 
of  the  membership  is  composed  of  women, 
who  control  less  money  than  men.  It  is, 
therefore,  fair  to  say  that  the  church-member 
is  at  least  as  well  off  as  the  average  citizen. 
In  1890,  one  in  every  4.7  of  the  population 
was  a  member  of  some  evangelical  church. 


30 


THE  IDEA  OF  STEWARDSHIP  NOT 
GRASPED. 

Is  it  not  evident  that  most  of  our  church- 
members  have  failed  to  learn  the  first  princi¬ 
ples  of  Christian  giving?  And  many  who 
give  most  largely  do  not  seem  to  have  grasped 
fully  the  idea  of  stewardship,  and  to  hold 
themselves  under  obligations  to  use  every 
dollar  in  the  way  that  will  most  honor  God. 
A  wealthy  clergyman  (!),  who  was  a  munifi¬ 
cent  giver,  saw,  in  Paris,  a  pin  that  struck 
his  fancy,  and  gave  |8oo  for  it.  If,  in  the 
wide  world  that  was  the  highest  use  he  could 
find  for  the  money,  it  was  his  duty  to  spend 
it  as  he  did.  Many  give  largely,  and  spend 
as  lavishly  on  themselves  ;  nor  is  it  strange, 
in  view  of  the  instructions  often  given.  A 
worthy  secretary  of  one  of  our  most  honored 
benevolent  societies  said:  ‘‘He  shall  see  the 
travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied — When  ! 
Not  till  beneficence  keeps  pace  with  luxury N 
Will  that  satisfy  Him  who  commended  her 
that  cast  into  the  treasury  all  her  living,  who 
requires  of  his  followers  daily  cross-bearing, 
and  admits  no  one  to  discipleship  who  has 
not  forsaken  “all  that  he  hath?’'  Is  the 
Master  satisfied  when  a  rich  man  to  gratify 
“a  nice  and  curious  palate,”  spends  ten  thou¬ 
sand  a  year  on  his  table,  provided  only  be¬ 
nevolence  keeps  pace  with  his  luxury,  and  he 
gives  as  much  more  to  missions  ?  Or,  is  it 
untrue  that  God  requires  every  one  to  make 
the  wisest  and  the  best  use  of  all  his  money  ? 


31 


WHERE  THE  REFORMATION  SHOULD 

BEGIN. 

Many  churches  are  never  taught  that  the 
consecration  of  all  our  property  to  God  is  no 
more  optional  than  the  practice  of  justice  or 
chastity  or  any  other  duty.  Most  Christians 
leave  their  giving  to  mere  impulse  ;  they  give 
something  or  nothing,  much  or  little,  as  they 
feel  like  it.  They  might  as  well  attempt  to 
live  a  Christian  life  and  be  honest  or  not  as 
they  felt  like  it.  The  churches  are  not  ade¬ 
quately  instructed  as  to  this  duty.  They 
hear  too  often  of  the  “  Lord’s  share."  The 
reformation  must  begin  with  the  pulpit. 

ACCEPTANCE  OF  THE  PRINCIPLE 
URGED. 

I.  The  spiritual  life  and  power  of  the 
churches  demand  the  acceptance  of  the  true 
doctrine  touching  possessions.  We  talk  about 
“  our  crosses."  There  is  no  such  expression 
in  the  Bible.  The  word  does  not  occur  there 
in  the  plural.  It  has  been  belittled  ;  it  has 
come  to  mean  trial,  disagreeable  duty,  any¬ 
thing  which  crosses  our  inclination  ;  but  its 
meaning  in  the  Scriptures  is  never  so  meagre 
as  that.  There  it  always  means  crucifixion  ; 
like  the  word  gallows,  in  modern  speech,  it 
means  death.  To  take  one’s  cross  means,  in 
the  Bible,  to  start  for  the  place  of  execution. 
“  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  take 
up  his  cross  aiid  follow  me.”  Follow  him 
where  I  To  Golgotha.  He,  in  whose  experi¬ 
ence  there  is  no  Calvary  where  he  himself  has 
been  crucified  with  Christ,  knows  little  of 


32 


Christian  discipleship.  Christ  demands  act¬ 
ual  self-abnegation  ;  but  where  the  Christian 
name  is  honored,  and  its  profession  confers 
obvious  advantages,  self  deception  is  common 
and  Christian  experien-ce  is  liable  to  be  shal¬ 
low.  As  quaint  old  Rutherford  said  :  “  Men 
get  Christ  for  the  half  of  nothing  ;  such  ma- 
keth  loose  work.’'  Too  many  church-mem¬ 
bers  know  little  or  nothing  of  self-surrender  ; 
hence  the  lack  of  spiritual  life  and  power.  At 
such  times  the  church  suffers  for  the  want  of 
some  decisive  test,  the  application  of  which 
will  show  men  to  themselves,  and  separate, 
with  a  good  degree  of  accuracy,  those  who 
have  been  crucified  with  Christ  from  those 
who  know  not  what  it  is  to  ‘‘take  up  the 
cross.  ” 


A  TEST  OF  SINCERITY. 

In  a  commercial  age,  and  especially  in  a 
luxurious  civilization,  the  form  of  worldliness 
to  which  the  church  is  most  likely  to  be 
tempted  is  the  love  of  money.  As  the  means 
of  almost  every  possible  self-gratification  it 
becom.es  the  representative  of  self;  hence  the 
true  principle  of  Christian  giving,  the  actual 
surrender  of  all  substance  to  God,  is  exactly 
the  best  test  for  the  application  of  which  the 
church  is  suffering  to-day.  If  this  test  were 
applied  now  to  every  church-member  as  Christ 
applied  it  to  the  young  ruler  (and  the  need  is 
the  same,  for  the  human  heart  is  the  same, 
and  heaven  and  the  conditions  of  entrance 
are  the  same),  would  not  the  record  in  many 
a  case  be,  “and  he  went  away  sorrowful,  for 
he  had  great  possessions  ”  ? 


33 


What  right  has  any  one,  who  has  light  on 
this  subject,  to  believe  he  has  given  himself 
to  God,  if  he  has  not  given  his  possessions  ? 
If  he  has  kept  back  the  less,  what  reason  is 
there  to  think  he  has  given  the  greater  ?  As 
Jeremy  Taylor  says:  “He  never  loved  God 
who  will  quit  anything  of  his  religion  to  save 
his  money/' 

Is  not  much  that  the  Master  said  concern¬ 
ing  possessions  a  dead  letter  in  the  church 
to-day  ?  ‘  ‘  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures 

upon  earth."  Is  not  that  exactly  what  many 
in  the  church  are  doing,  and  many  more 
striving  with  eager  energy  to  do?  “The  de¬ 
ceitfulness  of  riches."  How  many  are  afraid 
of  being  deceived  by  them  ?  How  many  re¬ 
fuse  to  run  the  risk?  “How  hardly  shall 
they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven."  How  many  are  unwilling  to  be¬ 
come  rich  or  richer?  Multitudes  now  com¬ 
plain  that  they  have  so  little  who  on  the  great 
day  of  accounts  wall  mourn  that  they  had  so 
much.  The  Word  declares  covetousness  to 
be  idolatry  ;  but  how  many  church-members 
were  ever  disciplined  for  this  idolatry  ?  There 
is,  however,  a  sign  of  the  millennium  down  in 
Maine,  where,  a  few  years  ago,  a  church  dis¬ 
ciplined  five  members  because  they  would 
give  nothing.  The  spiritual  life  and  power 
of  the  church  can  vitalize  and  save  the  world 
only  when  there  is  a  spirit  of  consecration 
sufficiently  deep  and  inclusive  to  accept  the 
true  principle  of  Christian  giving. 


34 


OUR  nation’s  need. 

2.  Again,  our  safety  from  the  perils  which 
threaten  ruin  to  our  nation  demands  the  ac¬ 
ceptance  of  this  principle. 

It  is  not  urged  as  a  panacea  ;  specific  reme¬ 
dies,  which  there  is  no  space  to  discuss,  must 
be  applied  ;  reform  must  be  pressed  ;  we  need 
patriotic  and  wise  legislation,  and  to  this  end 
fewer  politicians  and  more  statesmen ;  but 
statesmanship  cannot  save  the  country. 
Christ’s  refusal  to  be  made  a  king,  and  his  re¬ 
jection  of  Satan’s  offer  of  the  world’s  scepter, 
ought  to  teach  those  who  seek  to  save  the 
world  that  moral  means  are  necessary  to 
moral  ends.  Christ  saw  that  the  world  could 
not  be  saved  by  legislation,  that  only  by  his 
being  “lifted  up”  could  all  men  be  drawn 
unto  him.  He  saw  that  he  could  not  save 
the  world  without  sacrificing  for  it  ;  no  more 
can  we. 

THE  SAVING  POWER  OF  THE  CHURCH 
IS  ITS  SACRIFICING  POWER. 

The  gospel  is  the  radical  cure  of  the  world’s 
great  evils,  and  its  promulgation,  like  its  spirit, 
requires  sacrifice.  Money  is  the  sinews  of 
spiritual  warfare  as  well  as  carnal,  and  a  suffi¬ 
cient  amount  of  it  would  enable  us  to  meet 
these  perils  with  the  gospel. 

The  acceptance  of  the  true  principle  of 
Christian  giving  is  urged  upon  us  by  the 
fact  that  money  is  power,  which  is  needed 
everywhere  for  elevating  and  saving  men.  It 
is  further  urged  upon  us  by  the  fact  that  only 
such  a  view  of  possessions  will  save  us  from 


35 


the  great  and  imminent  perils  of  wealth.  God 
might  have  sent  his  angels  to  sing  his  gospel 
through  the  world,  or  he  might  have  written 
it  on  the  sky,  and  made  the  clouds  his  mes¬ 
sengers  ;  but  we  need  the  responsibility  of 
publishing  that  gospel.  He  might  make  the 
safe  of  every  benevolent  society  a  gold  mine 
as  unfailing  as  the  widow’s  cruse  of  oil ;  but 
we  need  to  give  that  gold. 

A  REVERSAL  NEEDED. 

The  tendency  of  human  nature,  intensified 
by  our  commercial  activity,  is  to  make  the  life 
a  whirlpool — a  great  maelstrom  which  draws 
everything  into  itself.  What  is  needed  to-day 
is  a  grand  reversal  of  the  movement,  a  transfor¬ 
mation  of  the  life  into  a  fountain.  And  in  an 
exceptional  degree  is  this  the  need  of  Anglo- 
Saxons.  Their  strong  love  of  liberty,  and  their 
acquisitiveness,  afford  a  powerful  temptation 
to  offer  some  substitute  for  self-abnegation. 
We  would  call  no  man  master ;  we  must 
take  Christ  as  master.  We  would  possess  all 
things  ;  we  must  surrender  all  things. 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  SELF-DENIAL  ON 
CHARACTER. 

One  of  the  grave  problems  before  us  is  how 
to  make  great  material  prosperity  conduce  to 
individual  advancement.  The  severest  pov¬ 
erty  is  unfavorable  to  morality.  Up  to  a 
certain  point  increase  of  property  serves  to 
elevate  man  morally  and  intellectually,  while 
it  improves  him  physically.  But,  as  nations 
grow  rich,  they  are  prone  to  become  self- 
indulgent,  effeminate,  immoral.  The  physi- 


36 


cal  nature  becomes  less  robust,  the  intellec¬ 
tual  nature  less  vigorous,  the  moral  less  pure. 
The  pampered  civilization  of  old  had  to  be 
reinvigorated,  from  time  to  time,  with  fresh 
infusions  of  barbaric  blood  —  a  remedy  no 
longer  available.  If  we  cannot  find  in  Chris¬ 
tianity  a  remedy  or  preventative,  our  Chris¬ 
tian  civilization  and  the  w^orld  itself  is  a 
failure ;  and  our  rapidly  increasing  wealth, 
like  the  “cankered  heaps  of  strange-achieved 
gold,’’  will  curse  us  unto  destruction. 

But  the  recognition  of  God’s  ownership  in 
all  our  substance  is  a  perfect  antidote  for 
the  debilitating  and  corrupting  influence  of 
wealth.  It  prevents  self-indulgence,  and  the 
apprehension  of  religious  truth  implied  in 
such  recognition  affords  the  strongest  possi¬ 
ble  motives  to  sacrifice  and  active  effort  of 
which  men  are  capable.  A  hundred  years 
ago  poverty  compelled  men  to  endure  hard¬ 
ness,  and  so  served  to  make  the  nation  great. 
Now  that  w^e  are  exposed  to  the  pampering 
influence  of  riches,  Christian  principle  must 
inspire  the  spirit  of  self-denial  for  Christ’s 
sake,  and  the  world’s  sake,  and  so  make  the 
nation  greater. 

THE  PRESENT  CRISIS. 

3.  A  mighty  emergency  is  upon  us.  Our 
country’s  future,  and  much  of  the  w'orld’s 
future,  depend  on  the  w^ay  in  which  Christian 
men  meet  the  crisis. 

And  our  plea  is  not  America  for  America’s 
sake  ;  but  America  for  the  world’s  sake.  For, 
if  this  generation  is  faithful  to  its  trust,  Amer¬ 
ica  is  to  become  God’s  right  arm  in  his  battle 


37 


with  the  world’s  ignorance  and  oppression 
and  sin.  Immeasurable  opportunities  sur¬ 
round  and  overshadow  us. 

What  a  consummate  blunder  to  live  selfishly 
in  such  a  generation  !  What  food  for  ever¬ 
lasting  reflection  and  regret  in  a  life  lived 
narrowly  amid  such  infinitely  wide  opportu¬ 
nities  ! 

A  LIFE  DEVOTED  TO  MONEY-GETTING. 

Says  a  New  York  daily  paper  :  “A  gentle¬ 
man  died  at  his  residence  in  one  of  our  fash- 
able  streets,  leaving  eleven  millions  of  dollars. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
in  excellent  standing,  a  good  husband  and 
father,  and  a  thrifty  citizen.  On  his  death¬ 
bed  he  suffered  great  agony  of  mind  and 
gave  continual  expression  to  his  remorse  for 
what  his  conscience  told  him  had  been  an 
ill-spent  life.  ‘Oh,’  he  exclaimed,  ‘ if  I  could 
only  live  my  years  over  again  !  Oh,  if  I  could 
only  be  spared  for  a  few  years,  I  would  give 
all  the  wealth  I  have  amassed  in  a  life-time. 
It  is  a  life  devoted  to  money-getting  that  I 
regret.  It  is  this  which  weighs  me  down, 
and  makes  me  despair  of  the  life  hereafter.’  ” 
Suppose  so  unfaithful  a  steward  is  permitted 
to  enter  the  “  many  mansions.”  When,  with 
clarified  spiritual  vision,  he  perceives  the  true 
meaning  of  life,  and  sees  that  he  has  lost  the 
one  opportunity  of  an  endless  existence  to 
set  in  motion  influences,  which,  by  leading 
sinners  to  repentance,  would  cause  heaven  to 
th-ill  with  a  new  joy,  it  seems  to  me  he 
would  gladly  give  a  hundred  years  of  Paradise 
for  a  single  day  on  earth  in  possession  of  the 


38 


money  once  entrusted  to  him — time  enough 
to  turn  that  power  into  channels  of  Christian 
work. 

THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  WEST. 

The  emergency  created  by  the  settlement 
of  the  states  and  territories  of  the  West — a 
grand  constellation  of  empires — is  to  be  met 
by  placing  in  the  hand  of  every  Christian 
agency  there  at  work  all  ,the  power  that 
money  can  wield.  There  is  scarcely  a  church, 
or  society,  or  institution  of  any  kind  doing 
God  service  there  which  is  not  embarrassed, 
or  sadly  crippled  for  lack  of  funds.  Mission¬ 
aries  should  be  multiplied,  parsonages  and 
churches  built,  and  colleges  generously  en¬ 
dowed.  The  nation’s  salt,  with  which  the 
whole  land  and  preeminently  the  tainted  civi¬ 
lization  of  the  frontier,  must  be  sweetened,  is 
Christian  education.  The  tendency,  which  is 
so  marked  in  many  of  our  older  and  larger 
colleges,  to  develop  and  furnish  simply  the 
intellect,  is  full  of  peril.  Divorce  religion 
and  education,  and  we  shall  fall  a  prey  either 
to  blundering  goodness  or  well-schooled  vil¬ 
lainy.  The  young  colleges  of  the  West,  like 
Drury,  Doane,  Carleton,  Colorada,  Yankton, 
Fargo,  and  others,  founded  by  broad-minded 
and  far-seeing  men,  are  characterized  by  a 
strong  religious  influence,  and  send  a  surpris¬ 
ing  proportion  of  their  graduates  into  the 
ministry.  In  view  of  their  almost  boundless 
possibilities  for  usefulness  in  their  relations  to 
the  future  of  the  West  and  of  the  nation,  and 
in  view  of  their  urgent  needs,  it  is  a  wonder 
that  those  who,  like  Boaz,  are  mighty  men  of 


39 


wealth,  can  deny  themselves  the  deep  and 
Tasting  pleasure  of  liberally  endowing  such 
institutions.  Said  one  who  had  just  given 
fifty  thousand  dollars  to  a  Western  college  : 
“I  cannot  tell  you  what  I  have  enjoyed.  It 
is  like  being  born  into  the  kingdom  again.” 

OUR  GREAT  BENEVOLENT  SOCIETIES. 

This  emergency  demands  the  acceptance  of 
Christian  stewardship,  that  our  great  benevo¬ 
lent  societies  may  be  adequately  furnished  for 
their  work.  They  are  kept  constantly  on  their 
knees  before  the  public,  and  with  pleas  so 
pitiful,  so  moving,  the  marvel  to  me  is  that, 
when  Christian  men  hold  their  peace  and 
their  purse,  the  very  stones  do  not  cry  out. 
And,  notwithstanding  all  their  efforts  to  secure 
means,  they  must,  every  one,  scrimp  at  every 
point,  decline  providential  calls  to  enlarge 
their  work,  and  even  retrench,  in  order  to 
close  the  fiscal  year  without  a  debt. 

THE  DOOR  OF  OPPORTUNITY  IS  OPEN 
IN  ALL  THE  EARTH  : 

Organizations  have  been  completed,  Ian-, 
guages  learned,  the  Scriptures  translated, 
and  now  the  triumph  of  the  kingdom  awaits 
only  the  exercise  of  the  power  committed  to 
the  church,  but  which  she  refuses  to  put 
forth.  If  she  is  to  keep  step  with  the  majes¬ 
tic  march  of  the  divine  providence,  the 
church  must  consecrate  the  power  which  is 
in  money. 

THE  BLESSEDNESS  OF  GIVING. 

4.  Oh,  that  men  would  accept  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  Christ  touching  the  blessedness  of 


40 


giving  !  He  who  sacrifices  most,  loves  most; 
and  he  who  loves  most,  is  most  blessed*. 
Love  and  sacrifice  are  related  to  each  other 
like  seed  and  fruit ;  each  produces  the  other. 
The  seed  of  sacrifice  brings  forth  Ae  fragrant 
fruit  of  love,  and  love  always  has  in  its  heart 
the  seeds  of  new  sacrifice.  He  who  gives  but 
a  part  is  not  made  perfect  in  love.  Love  re¬ 
joices  to  give  all  ;  it  does  not  measure  its 
sacrifice.  It  was  Judas,  not  Mary,  who  cal¬ 
culated  the  value  of  the  alabaster  box  of 
ointment.  He  who  is  infinitely  blessed  is  the 
Infinite  Giver;  and  the  man,  made  in  his 
likeness,  was  intended  to  find  his  highest 
blessedness  in  the  completest  self-giving.  He 
who  receives,  but  does  not  give,  is  like  the 
Dead  Sea.  All  the  fresh  floods  of  Jordan 
cannot  sweeten  its  dead,  salt  depths.  So  all 
the  stre.ams  of  God’s  bounty  cannot  sweeten 
a  heart  that  has  no  outlet ;  that  is  ever  re¬ 
ceiving,  yet  never  full  and  overflowing. 

If  those  whose  horizon  is  as  narrow  as  the 
bushel  under  which  they  hide  their  light  could 
be  induced  to  come  out  into  a  large  place, 

’  and  take  a  worthy  view  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  and  of  their  relations  to  it,  if  they 
could  be  persuaded  to  make  the  principle  of 
Christian  giving  regnant  in  all  their  life,  their 
happiness  would  be  as  much  increased  as  their 
usefulness. 

Copies  of  this  pamphlet  can  be  obtained  from  the 
American  Tract  Society,  lo  East  2jd  Street,  New 
York,  at  2  cts.  each,  or  $i  6o  per  hundred. 


